With orange season at its peak, now is a good time as any to make these melt in your mouth orange cranberry scones.

This amazing recipe comes to you from my friend Donna. We had given her a bowl of homegrown oranges and in return Donna used one of the oranges to make these delectable scones. She dropped them off along with a few other goodies she had brought back from her recent visit to London 🥰🙏🏻.

Melt in your mouth scones

Seriously folks, when I say melt in your mouth scones – I mean it! These orange cranberry scones are insanely delicious! They’re light, flaky, not too sweet and taste like they came from your favorite bakery. The lovely fragrance of orange zest comes through in every bite along with the sweet and tangy bite of cranberries. Have these with a good cup of tea or coffee and you’ll be in breakfast heaven or teatime heaven 😄.

A tried and true recipe

I kept Donna’s instructions exactly as she shared as she said she’d made these scones so many times that her tips really helped.

“Kalpana. Pardon the basic explanation of steps as I’m sure you know them. I just was thinking out loud and I have made these so often that I realized these things have helped. Have fun!!” Donna

With just 1/2 cup of sugar, zest of a big orange and a generous cup of cranberries, here is a recipe for delectable orange cranberry scones courtesy of my friend Donna.

Orange Cranberry Scones
recipe contributed by Donna

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of a medium – large orange
1 stick of butter(1/2 cup) – cold butter! This is very important!
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1 big cup of dried cranberries( Trader Joe’s has a good one in a bag)

Instructions and things I’ve learned by trial and error – Donna

1) Gently mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and zest together. I chop my butter up to resemble small cubes. Blend your butter into the flour mixture until it looks like pie crust pastry.

2) Mix in( I think a fork works well here) cream, an egg, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add the cranberries and incorporate everything together. Add the liquid mixture to the dough.

The dough should be a shaggy mess but it will slowly come together. Stop when it comes together! You don’t want to over mix this dough! You want to see flecks of butter.

3) Put the dough on a sheet of parchment and then add another sheet on top and gently roll into a rectangle. (cook’s notes: I sprinkled flour on top and rolled it that way).

Cut the dough with a floured knife into squares then diagonally.

4) Put your scone triangles into the fridge for at least 30 min.

5) Turn oven on to 400 degrees.
6) Pull tray back out of refrigerator and brush each scone with whipping cream. Sprinkle with sugar or Demerara sugar. Both work depending on your preferred texture.

7) Bake for 15-18 min turning at the halfway point to get even browning. (cook’s notes: I baked mine just 5 min longer and they were not as soft as Donna’s. Stick to the 15-18 min baking time and take the scones out and let them cool. They will be perfect every time).

Enjoy❤️!